CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Indians are the closest of Cleveland’s three major professional franchises to winning a championship. Unfortunately for Cleveland fans, the Indians still have plenty of work to do -- and the Browns and Cavaliers are far behind them.

The Indians went 92-70 last season and made the playoffs. Granted, their postseason lasted just nine innings once Tampa Bay defeated them in a wild-card game, but at least they made it. They had taken huge strides from a 68-94 season in 2012.

The Indians can continue to be viable because they have a terrific manager, Terry Francona, who won two World Series titles with the Red Sox (2004, 2007). Francona oversees a roster that is relatively young, reasonably skilled and plenty hungry. The roster lacks star power but compensates by performing well as a group. The players enjoy playing for Francona and for each other, which counts for something.

The Indians’ division, the American League Central, helps their cause. The Tribe likely will be better than the Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox for several more years and be on par with the Kansas City Royals. That leaves the Detroit Tigers, who are three-time defending division champions but finished 93-69 last season. Even with their star power, the Tigers are no guarantee to dominate the division in the coming years.

A wild-card route is open for the Indians, as well. Given that the AL East and West are stacked by comparison, the unbalanced schedule hurts the wild-card candidacy of clubs in those divisions because they beat up on each other.

Regardless, the Indians need more high-end talent in order to be taken seriously as a World Series contender.

The Browns have been a mess, on balance, since returning to the NFL in 1999. Current owner Jimmy Haslam, scrambling to find something that works, has made changes at president, general manager and head coach since the 2013 season ended with seven straight defeats and a 4-12 record.

The Browns can’t be expected to thrive anytime soon given a first-year GM (Ray Farmer) and first-year head coach (Mike Pettine). Even if Farmer and Pettine turn out to be legends, they will need time to learn their crafts and plug sizable leaks. The Browns featured a handful of Pro Bowlers last year but need – on offense, alone -- a stud quarterback, No. 2 receiver, running back and potentially multiple linemen.

In a vacuum, the Browns have miles to go to reach respectability, let alone Super Bowl worthiness. The task is that much tougher because, unlike the Indians, the Browns are in a deep division. The Ravens and Steelers are the Ravens and Steelers, and the Bengals are young and defending division champions.

Many have lauded the NFL for parity, but reality tells a different tale. While the worst team can, indeed, beat the best team on any given Sunday, the rigors of a 16-game season typically weed out the pretenders. In the Super Bowl era, a minority of franchises has won the vast majority of trophies. More than a dozen teams, including the Browns, have been nowhere close to Super Bowl contenders for the vast majority of their past 25 seasons.

The Cavaliers sniffed glory in 2007 when they reached the NBA Finals for the first time. They were swept by the Spurs but had hope as long as LeBron James suited up. However, James’ seven-season stint in Cleveland ended with The Decision to go to Miami after 2009-2010. The 2007 Finals appearance turned out to be the Cavaliers’ only one under James.

The Cavaliers have been awful in the 3 1Ž2 seasons since James was traded. They have an exceptional point guard in Kyrie Irving, the No. 1 overall pick in 2011 – but he is not on the level of James, and he could use some help. The Cavaliers need at least one more elite player before they can think about chasing a ring; those types of players obviously are difficult to find.

Even if the Cavaliers make the playoffs this and the next couple of seasons, they will be forced to deal in the Eastern Conference with the young and talented Indiana Pacers. The old and talented Miami Heat will remain so as long as James decides not to opt out after this season. And a nasty Western Conference opponent awaits in the Finals.

The Cavaliers need to be an exceptional team before they can think about a title, not just a good one that gets on a roll. That is because the four-round NBA playoff format is too punitive for upstarts to stay hot, as evidenced by the fact that just nine franchises have won championships since 1979-1980.

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